OPI My Daddy's the King

The cool tones tend to work better on me than warm, but this is not true with nude nail polish shades. Pink based shades don't look that good on me. Nude peaches with hint of beige might be my color when I want something discreet on my nails. That does not happen too often, though, but the nail disaster made me wear my manis longer than usual - and in these cases discreet options are welcome.

My Daddy's the King is really good peachy-beigy fleshtone with nice, subtle and well behaving pearly shimmer. The shimmer adds some dimension to this gentle shade and I actually like the look more than I thought. Three coats for opaque look, easy to apply.

China Glaze Stellar

So I decided to overcome my fear of glitter and ordered couple of China Glaze glitter specials. This is Stellar - a pretty beige nude shade with silver and gold small glitter. The glitter is quite dense, this is two coats and looks pretty good, one more might be a good idea. There is no bare patch on my forefinger, the light is just doing tricks.

This creates quite sandlike texture - which I actually like! One or two layers of topcoat would probably solve this; but this one does not need the top coat for drying purposes, it dries really fast. The glitter is pretty showy even in indirect light, but direct sunlight or artificial light makes the nails sparkle madly. My final verdict - I really like it. Removing was not easy...

Definitely an accessible entrance to the world of glitter.

Opi Tickle My France-y

Here's an older image of Tickle My France-y for comparison to Misa High Waist Hue. I still haven't decided which one of these should go. It might be that Francey is bit more flattering on me, but on the other hand I prefer Misas formula.

I have to say that I'm not too into nudes. Like my husband said, once you decide to paint your nails it would be nice to notice the result. These popular mushroom shades are perhaps just a bit more interesting than more traditional nudes in my records - but it does not justify keeping these dupes in my stash.

Misa High Waist Hue

Misa High Waist Hue is a very close relative to Opi Tickle My France-y - it has just a tad more pink in it and very secret blue shimmer, which I can't really see in the nail (got to check it out in bright sunlight, though). I prefer Misa's consistency, very nice to apply and perfect cover with two coats while Francey needed three. I know that I have a picture of Francey, too, I will publish it later for comparison.


I guess that these are so close, that I'll probably give another away. I try to keep my nail polish stash reasonable, so I keep only the shades I absolutely love and try to get rid of duplicates.

Second take on Frenchies: Opi Pink Before You Leap (plus some additional bling)

After my first French manicure I decided to take a look to my small polish stash, surely there had to be at least one white to try out in tips. An oh yes, several years old but still in decent condition: Mavala Izmir. This is quite soft and sheer white and I certainly would prefer slightly more distinct tips. But it applied really well, perhaps I should try other Mavala whites, too.

On top I used Opi Pink Before Leap. Not the most typical choice for French manicure, but I think that it actually works beautifully with my skintone. And although the sheer dusty rose base shade is quite dark, the white and crystal microglitter makes the tips look quite crisp.


I refreshed the look on next day with Orly Groupie, a sheer gold shimmer with randomly scattered larger holo particles.

Rimmel French manicure

This manicure is made with Rimmel Nail tip whitener and Rose Praline. It is my first self made French manicure ever, so it's far from perfect, pardon for that!

It is also a start for my quest for a really good tip polish. Rimmel version is truly a bright white and it has a neat innovation: slightly slanted brush that eases the application, especially on the corners of the tips. Those are the goods. Bads: the formula. It is extremely difficult to apply evenly and slightly too thick for a tip polish. I strongly dislike thick nail tips... ...I will give this a second chance, though, but it definitely needs thinner.

Rose Praline is not a perfect choice for French mani, either. It was a bit streaky after two coats - and after the third it is too opaque for pretty French effect. But otherwise I have to say that this is one of my favourite nudes. The base is perfect soft bone white, enriched with beautiful pink shimmer and crystal twinkle. You can get a distant idea of the beautiful shimmer at least from the larger image, but the indirect lighting does not get the best out of shimmers. It is there, and it is beautiful, trust me! The color is pale, but not boring. Application is not perfect but evens nicely with the third coat.

My nail beds are quite curved and that is definitely a challenge for manicures. With too big brushes I'm not able to get to the side edges of the nails without staining the skin badly. On the other hand, cleaning that skin afterward is difficult, too. I easily end up ruining the polish...